Rory Gilmore
by Charlotte Whitting
Summary: Rory has moved on with her life after season 7 ends and moved into her own place.
1. Introduction

This is Rory living on her own. Post Grad, post Logan. And coping with a new job, no mother, and a new atmosphere altogether.


	2. Welcome to Virginia, Rory Gilmore

**Welcome to Virginia, Rory Gilmore**

Rory stared up at the new house. It was a two story colonial, like nothing her mother would have chosen, but Emily Gilmore had insisted on loaning the money for the house. God, she was going to owe her grandparents so much money, first for Yale, and now for the house. "It didn't cost much," Emily said, but Rory knew better.

Before she'd left home the town had thrown a huge going away party for her, well, Luke Danes, her mother's ex/current boyfriend really did all the planning. She'd always thought of Luke as a father figure, but Lorelai Gilmore hadn't given him the time of day until Rory was in college. Geez, mother, Rory thought, he's been there this whole time. But they were together now and that's all that mattered.

Rory took a deep breath and walked up the front porch. She didn't have much with her yet, just her little blue Prius stuffed to the top with items she would need until Luke could drive her furniture from her room down to Virginia. But Emily and Richard assured Rory that there would at least be a bed for her to sleep in when she arrived. The climate down here was different entirely. Rory was used to wearing jeans and sweaters in September, but everyone here was still wearing shorts and t shirts. Rory even rolled the windows down in her car.

Rory had opted for living in Virginia as opposed to Washington DC. She didn't want to have to deal with all the traffic, and taking the metro to work every day wouldn't be that bad. Instead of going to Israel, Rory decided to take a job writing for the Washington Times. The pay was good and she wanted to get some experience until she could work herself up to the New York Times.

Rory opened the front door of her new house expecting to see an empty living room, but instead the saw that the foyer and living room were completely furnished. She dropped her bags and walked into the living room. There was an entire entertainment center complete with a flat screen television, stereo, and DVD player/VCR. The couch and matching loveseat faced the entertainment center and in the corner of the room was a brand new flat screen Mac. "Grandma," Rory said aloud as if Emily could hear her.

She walked down the hallway into the kitchen had appliances and a new table and chairs. Then, as Rory walked around the house, she found that the entire house was decorated. A table in the foyer supported a huge vase of flowers, behind which was a coat rack. Rory was afraid to go upstairs. "What has she done?"

As Rory climbed the stairs she dreaded opening the door. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for all of the furniture, it was just that she couldn't afford to pay her grandparents back this much, and frankly her grandma's taste was devastatingly different from her own. When Rory walked into her room, she found it less decorated than the rest of the house. The bed was a queen size canopy with a decent blue comforter. The bed came with two matching end tables on each side, a dresser, a television stand, and a full length standing mirror. On the bed was a note from Emily:

"Welcome to your new home Rory. I hope you like the furniture as much as we did picking it out. Do not think anything of paying us back for it all, it was our homecoming present to you. Please call us when you get settled in. We love you. Grandma and Grandpa. PS. Go down the hall to the end room."

Rory sighed and looked around the room. "Homecoming present? Really?" she thought. Rory couldn't even imagine what was in the other room. She braced herself as she walked down the hall and opened the door. Inside was the most beautiful sight. Three large bookcases were along one wall. One was completely full of books. She scanned them. Only one third of them she'd already read, the others she remembered mentioning over years to her grandparents that she wanted to read. On one shelf she found another letter:

"Dearest Rory, After all of the insane shopping for furniture you would most likely loathe I wanted to get you a present you would actually use. Please take it upon yourself to read these books as I know you have wanted to but never got around to reading. Then, fill the rest of these shelves with books of your own. And if you need more bookshelves just ask. Love, Grandpa."

Rory turned around and saw a very comfy looking couch. She sat down with _The Great Gatsby _in her hand. A book she'd read four times already and dove in. This was by far her favorite room in the house.


	3. And That's the Way the Gilmores Like It

**And That's the Way the Gilmores Like It**

"Rory! How lovely it is to see you!" Emily Gilmore exclaimed as she hugged Rory and entered the house with Richard in tow. "The house is just adorable, Richard isn't it just adorable?"

"Just adorable," Richard said. "Rory, pleasure to see you, dear," he said hugging Rory.

"Great to see you too!" Rory smiled. She showed her grandparents into the house. It had been nearly three months since she'd seen them and was dying to tell her grandfather that she'd knocked six books off her list of those to read. "Please, come in and have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"

Emily walked toward the living room. "Nothing for me, I just want to see the house and-." Emily stopped and stared at the couch. "What is that?" Emily asked, disgusted. "That isn't the couch we bought you is it? Oh Richard, that damn secretary of yours must have mixed up the order." She turned to Rory, "She is the most unorganized woman." She turned back to the couch appalled. "This was supposed to be a Contemporary Black Leather sofa imported from France! If we paid one thousand dollars for that mess-. Richard, you had better fire her!" Emily's face look so flustered and Rory was sure that she would explode any moment.

"Grandma," Rory intervened, "That isn't the couch you paid for. I bought that one." Richard sat down on the couch and opened up the newspaper he had been holding.

"Oh," Emily said confused. "Well then what happened to the one we bought that you needed this one?"

"It's over here in the den," Rory motioned to the den-like area that was never lived in, just there for decoration purposes. The room contained the black couch, a glass coffee table, a piano, and an easel. Rory knew she would never be possessed to use any of those things and so she called it her "junk room" in her mind, but to the grandparents she knew it must be called the den so as not to offend them. "You see," Rory further explained, "the couch wasn't working out and so I just went down to Goodwill and bought this one for thirty dollars."

"Goodwill?!" Emily exploded, "You went down to Goodwill?! You threw away the thousand dollar couch I bought you so you can sit on a used and probably disease infested thirty dollar couch?! It's absurd!"

"Emily," Richard said sternly. "If Rory wants to sit on a cheaper couch than we paid for then so be it. This is her house and you should let her live in it the way she wants. She is a grown woman with a very good head on her shoulders and if you don't like it, then we shall leave."

Emily closed her eyes and breathed in very deeply from her nose, frowning. "You're turning into your mother," she said sullenly. In many cases someone would take that as a low blow as Emily and Lorelai never got along and Emily detested the way she lived, but Rory took it as the highest form of flattery. Lorelai Gilmore was her best friend first, mother second. And that's the way she intended to raise her own daughter in the future and being seen as such a woman meant reaching that point someday.

Rory smiled. "Grandma, would you like to see the rest of the house?"

Rory gave her grandparents the grand tour and then after a dinner that Rory prepared herself – salad, chicken marsala, green beans, mashed potatoes, and then baked Alaska for desert – she sent them on their way to a hotel they insisted on staying in so they wouldn't "cramp her style" as her grandmother put it. After the evening Rory was glad to have the house rid of them so she could call her mother and tell her of the night.

"I told you she'd be mad about the couch," Lorelai said into the phone.

"I know, but what was I supposed to do with the other one while they were here? It's not like I could just stuff it in the closet until they left. They would have known." Rory replied.

"Well why didn't you just tell her it broke and that's why you needed a new couch?"

"Because then she would have insisted on buying another one, and then I would have had two very expensive yet very uncomfortable couches, what would I have done then?"

"Sold them both for a lot more than they were worth and bought a new car."

"That's responsible."

"Well you know me, I'm the epitome of responsible." Then Rory heard a crash on the other end of the phone and a loud growl.

"Mom where are you?"

"I'm at Luke's and that did not sound good. Luke you okay?"

"I think I broke my arm. I'm okay." Rory heard Luke shout.

"Oh, oh, hon I've got to go." Lorelai said hurriedly into the phone.

"Oh, okay," Rory replied just as hurriedly. "Tell Luke I hope it's not broken."

"I will, love you." Lorelai hung up before Rory could say it back.

Rory sat back on her thirty dollar Goodwill couch and covered up with a blanket. She had dirty dishes sitting in the sink and reruns of the Donna Reed show playing on the television. Her article that wasn't due for another week was done and sitting on the table by the foyer. She could be lazy the rest of the evening. And that's the way Rory Gilmore liked it.


	4. Early Meetings

BANG! BANG! BANG! Rory sat up straight in bed. BANG! She looked at the clock. "Six am on a Saturday?" Rory struggled to get out of bed. She thumped down the stairs in her monkey pajamas, hair in a pony tail, no makeup and opened the door to find a very attractive guy standing in her door way with a German Sheppard puppy in his arms. Rory closed the door a little to hide her pajamas.

"I'm sorry to wake you up," the attractive stranger said.

"Oh, no," Rory said, "I was up," it didn't sound convincing.

"Right," he smiled, knowing he had actually woken her up. "My name is Justin, I live across the street. I saw this little guy in your yard and I thought he might be yours and just escaped." Rory stared at his face the whole time he was talking. He was gorgeous; tall, about six foot two inches, with short brown hair, and bright green eyes, and a killer smile. His dimples alone were enough to make her melt.

"I'm sorry," Rory said realizing that she was smiling and staring dumbly. "He's not mine. I wish he was, he's so cute." Talking more about the guy (what was his name again?) than the dog. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"Justin," he smiled, "Justin Martins." He balanced the dog between his left hand and chest to shake her hand. "I guess I'll just go ask around."

"I hope you find his owner," Rory smiled. Justin nodded and walked down the sidewalk and onto the next house. Rory shut the door and looked at herself in the foyer mirror. "What a great impression," she said aloud at her pajamas and messy hair.

She looked at the clock and decided not to go back to bed. Instead she would get ready and do some much needed clothes shopping. After getting ready and making sure it was a decent time, she picked up the phone and dialed her mother's number.

Instead of hearing her mother's voice, she heard a raspy woman's, "Hello?" It was Babette, the next door neighbor.

"Babette?" Rory asked.

"Oh Rory, I'm so glad you called!" Babette exclaimed into the phone. "Your mom had to take Luke to the hospital and she asked me to come over and keep an eye on Paul Anka, the sweet dog, but something happened and when I put his food dish down in front of him he wouldn't eat it. I know because I stood there and watched. He hasn't eaten anything all night and I'm really worried about him, the poor thing."

"Oh, Babette you have to leave the room for him to eat. He doesn't like people watching. And also, did you heat his food in the microwave before you gave it to him?"

"You know, your mother told me to do it, but I forgot. I'll do that then. Thanks doll."

"Babette, you said my mom took Luke to the hospital."

"Yeah, yesterday at the diner he was carrying a large box of something or other and he slipped on some water on the floor. Thinks he broke his arm."

"And they've been at the hospital all night?" Rory took a bowl from the cupboard and filled it with Lucky Charms.

"Yep, haven't been back since."

"Okay, well I'll try her on her cell then, thanks Babette."

"Okay sugar," Babette hung up the phone.

Rory ate her Lucky Charms quickly and then dialed her mother's cell phone number. "Hey," her mother said into the phone when she answered.

"Hey mom," Rory smiled.

"Oh, I hear a smile, did you meet a guy?" Lorelai was just joking, not knowing she hit the nail on the head.

"Yep." Rory's smile widened.

"Really? You really met a guy? This fast. Oh honey, please tell me you at least went on a date before he spent the night. He didn't spend the night last night did he? The Gilmores wouldn't have liked that."

"No mom, I just met him this morning. He knocked on my door at six am."

"Six in the morning on a Saturday? I don't like him."

"No, he's really cute, and very considerate. He found a dog wandering around my yard and asked me if it was mine."

"Oh, how nice."

Rory proceeded to tell her mother his name and where he lived and all that that entailed while Lorelai told Rory that Luke's arm was in fact broken. So Caesar would have to run the diner while Luke did little working until it healed.

"He asked me to help cook," Lorelai laughed. "Me? Cook? He's a regular Billy Crystal."

"I cook," Rory projected.

"Which is why we're going to come see you and you can cook us dinner."

"You're coming to see me?" Rory perked up. "When?"

"It was going to be a surprise because we figured with Luke's bum arm-."

"It's not bum," Rory heard Luke say.

"-making it so he can't work we would surprise you this weekend." Lorelai finished.

"Really? That'd be great!"

"Good. Then we'll probably leave sometime Friday morning and be there sometime in the evening."

"Nice and vague and how I like it." Rory laughed.


End file.
